Audra Mc Donald

Audra McDonald is unmatched in the breadth and versatility of her work as an actor and singer. Audra McDonald, winner of seven Tony Awards in a row and two Grammy Awards in 2015 was named as one of Times magazine's 100 Most Influential people. The president Barack Obama also awarded her the National Medal of Arts -the most prestigious honor bestowed to Americans for excellence in this area. Blessed with a luminous soprano, and an unrivalled talent of telling the truth in a dramatic manner, she is as much at home on Broadway as well as on the stage as in her film and TV performances. Alongside her theatrical work she continues to make a name for herself as a recording artist who performs regularly at top venues around the globe. McDonald was born into a musically inclined household in Fresno, California. She underwent classical vocal training at The Juilliard School of New York. She won her first Tony Award in 1994 for the best performance of an actress who was featured in a musical called Carousel and was presented at Lincoln Center Theater. The following four years, she was awarded two additional Tony Awards as a featured actor for her performances on Terrence Mcnally's Broadway debuts Master Class (1996) and Ragtime (1998) that gave her three Tony Awards at the age of only thirty. She won her fourth Tony for her role as Sean Diddy Combs in A Raisin in the Sun and In 2012, she was awarded the fifth time and first time in the lead actress category for her performance as the title character on stage in The Gershwins Porgy and Bess. The actress made Broadway history when she became the most decorated Tony Award performer. In her role as Billie Holiday at Emerson's Bar & Grill, the role which was also instrumental in launching the career of her Olivier Award nominated debut on London's West End in 2017, was her six award. As well as setting a record in the number of honors an actor has been awarded, she is the first to have won every category. The other plays she has appeared in are The Secret Garden (1993) Marie Christine (1999) Henry IV (2004) 110 in the Shade (2007) Twelfth Night (2009) which marked Twelfth Night (2009), which was her Public Theater Shakespeare in the Park debut, the show Shuffle Along or The Making of the Musical Sensation from 1921 along with All That Followed (2016) Frankie and Johnny in Clair de Lune (2019) as well as Ohio State Murders (2023). McDonald was first introduced to television viewers as a dramatic actress by Peabody Award winning CBS's Having Our Say the Delany Sisters first 100 years. She went on to co-star alongside Kathy Bates and Victor Garber in the critically acclaimed 1999 television adaptation of Annie as well as in 2000, she appeared in a variety of roles on the NBC's cult series Law & Order Special Victims Unit. McDonald, who earned an Emmy Award nomination back in 1999, for her role for the HBO adaption of the Pulitzer Prize-winning film Wit with Emma Thompson returned to network television in 2003, starring on the political drama Mister Sterling. The film is directed by Emmy Award-winning Lawrence O'Donnell Jr. The actress joined the WB The Bedford Diaries The Bedford Diaries in early the year 2006. In the next season, she appeared as an NBC program Kidnapped. McDonald earned her 4th Emmy award in recognition of her part in HBO's film-special of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill in the year the year 2016. The actress starred with Taylor Schilling and Steven Pasquale in The Bite a six-episode pandemic-themed show co-produced through Spectrum Originals and CBS Studios in 2021. McDonald first played U.S. lawyer Liz Lawrence (now Liz Reddick), in the CBS legal crime thriller The Good Wife, in 2009. In 2018 she returned to the role on The Good Fight for Paramount+ as a series regular. She received three Critics Choice Award Nominations. The actress is currently appearing as a guest on Julian Fellowes' historical drama The Gilded Age, which can be seen on HBO.